Tag Archives: Hot Topics

Emergency Physician and Pennsylvania state representative Arvind Venkat, MD has a detail story to tell about the impact of healthcare upon patients who can not afford the insurance, or are under insured, and opt to deny healthcare. And most can not afford the payments resulting from Medical Debt. This is a good plan and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on a “bipartisan vote” supported it. Medical Debt Is Killing Our Patients | MedPage...

House resale price indexes confirm upturn in prices for existing homes, but do not negate combined price declines  – by New Deal democrat We got more price information about the very important housing market this morning. Through September, the median price of home resales as measured by Case Shiller increased 0.9% monthly. For the FHFA Index they rose 0.6%. Both measures are up about 46% since just before the pandemic hit (note: FRED hasn’t...

The October 30 issue of The New Yorker has a piece on Xi’s China called “China’s Age of Malaise.” While the mainstream media continues to promote the idea that China has become a wellspring of creativity and economic competition, the reality is that China is retreating into the rigid, sclerotic political dogmatism that characterized the Mao era and that brought down the Soviet Union. The money grafs:“Early this year, the Party launched a campaign to...

I rewrote portions of this article and added information from my own experiences in Automotive when new technology is introduced. My experience is not as great when compared to the introduction of EVs. However, it does come close enough to understand what is going on with the industry. Anyways, onwards. As taken from: GM Says EV Demand Is Shrinking. Data Shows a Complex Market, autoweek.com, Emmet White Generally speaking about the market . . ....

This commentary by Steve Early is about politics and war. The wars the US politically gets involved in, sends its young off to fight, and then leaves them pretty much stranded. It ain’t all John Wayne and scenes from the Alamo. Steve Early and I have been exchanging emails back and forth on VA healthcare. From what he tells me, he has picked up on our posting on healthcare. Just when you think no one is reading your work, a comment like this pops...

Weekly Indicators for October 23 – 27 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. With half of reports in, Q3 profits for corporations have made a new all-time high. Meanwhile the stock market has made repeated new 3 month lows. The former is a long leading indicator, the latter a short leading indicator, so we shall see which one proves more accurate. And in case you haven’t noticed at the...

Vaccination is one of the great triumphs of humanity over infectious disease. Smallpox was such a plague that George Washington mandated inoculation for all Continental soldiers in 1777. Prior to the polio vaccine, most Americans knew a friend or relative who contracted polio; today, it’s virtually unheard of, just like mumps and whooping cough. The COVID vaccines, particularly the mRNA vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer, are a triumph of genetic...

Spending soars, income stagnates, savings sink like the Titanic  – by New Deal democrat Real life intruded yesterday, so I didn’t put up any information about the Q3 GDP report. I’ll write in detail next week, but in the meantime there were 4 basic highlights: 1. Obviously it was an excellent report overall. 2. The long leading metric of real residential fixed spending also rose slightly, although as a share of real GDP it fell, so...

What is occurring in this announcement is GoodRx working or negotiating with Sanofi to reduce out-of-pocket costs to consumers for Sanofi’s Lantus, a treatment for diabetes. The out of pocket costs will be capped at $35.00. Great cost relief news for people who are not on Medicare, etc. More of the GoodRx announcement below. GoodRx Announces New Way for Consumers to Access Sanofi’s Lantus for $35 at Over 70,000 Pharmacies Nationwide, GoodRx,...

Not to put too fine a point on it, the recent chaos in the GOP-controlled House isn’t a bug, it’s a feature for the modern GOP. There isn’t any daylight between Gym Jordan and Mike Johnson, politically, but policy no longer matters to the GOP. It’s just optics, and Jordan has (so far) mastered the avuncular optics necessary to win the speakership. But since the point is chaos, Johnson will preside over chaos, with the hope that voters will decide to...